Regulus and Snape's Gloom
by SomecallmeMichelle
Summary: Comissioned by CaractusBurke on reddit. A fourth year Slytherin - Regulus Black. Tries to cheer up a fifth year Slytherin - Severus Snape. After he commits the biggest mistake of his life, by calling his love interest a slur. No matter the consequences.


The glowing green light that bathed everyone in the Slytherin's common room was, in Snape's opinion, always eerie. It reminded him of his darkened mood, and the way he had messed up things. It was appropriate, in that way, to his mistakes.

She had called Lily...her Lily, a mudblood. Not only a slur, but the worse kind of slur imaginable. In a way it was hypocritical of him to do so, he wasn't exactly pure blooded himself, being the son of a non magical father.

He observed as the green light reflected into his skin, showing his pale complexion and the veins in his arms. He was a knob, a git, a dumb and idiotic little boy. Although of little he had nothing.

It had came about in a fit or rage, and now he couldn't help but have his heart at his mouth. He had spoken without thinking. He had tried apologising, but Lily hadn't had any of that, mentioning his friends.

His friends...well, those friends of him had only laughed at his desperation and told him how he should be happy, because she wasn't worth it. He wanted to scream at them about how Lily was worth more than any of them, but those were bigger lads, versed in several kinds of dark magic and physically intimidating.

Snape might have been sly, but he had never been strong, at least, in the physical sense of the word. He had ruined things with Lily, he had not the guts to ruin things with his friends as well.

He could hear their whispers of contempt, their laughs, and they didn't please him. He had grown to care for Lily and she had given him chance after change...why he hadn't taken the shot when he had the chance? Pure dumbness, of his part. At least in his opinion.

Regulus couldn't take it anymore. Although he was part of the group that would later join the Death Eaters, he noticed just how deeply affected Severus was.

Call it masculine intuition, he would later say, though it wasn't really that difficult to see, with the way Severus was whimpering, his hands in front of his face, and his face was...well, Regulus hated to admit it...but Snivellus. As in, full of snivel.

Regulus didn't like the nickname the rival house had given to his colleague, but he saw how appropriate it was at the moment. Snape's noise was really messy and his tears fell freely down his lap.

He was aware of how little he could do to appease his mood. What could he say? She was a mudblood alright, and though Snape had grown to care for her, perhaps even loving her, in his eyes she was just...well, not the best option for a wizard like Snape.

But if he went in there insulting the woman Snape so dearly missed, he'd get scoffed at, and while intense scoffing might alleviate some of his depressed thoughts and crying, it wasn't the most efficient way.

No...Regulus knew for sure, if he wanted to get Snape cheered up (and perhaps get on his good side, he was higher in the hierarchy than him) then he would have to be careful not to mention that little detail, his own opinion about the girl.

He stood up. – Was he really going to do this? He would be the butt of all kinds of all jokes, He walked under the greenish tint of the dungeon in direction of Snape. Severus didn't notice him, too lost on his own self misery, and lost to the world.

Regulus gently touched Snape's shoulder, and he flinched. He had forgotten about that little detail. Although his family was conservative and had physical punishment as a punishment he himself, as the golden boy had rarely received any sort of hit. Snape however wasn't so lucky.

Regulus retracted his hand and Snape looked at him. Severus was a sobbing mess, his eyes were red and puffy, his nose was better not described, his clothes were wrinkled and his hair was oily.

Well the oily hair thing was sort of a Severus Snape trademark so he wasn't surprised at that, and the rest of the view, the uncomfortable view had been visible from the other side of the room, so he wasn't too shocked by it. But it was still disgusting to look at.

Severus wanted to tell the other boy to go away and leave him be, while Regulus wanted to yell at the other boy to get a grip. Both knew however that their plans wouldn't work. Regulus was far too stubborn to obey an order from Snape and he was also aware that if it had been as simple as simply as yelling at him, he would have been alright a long time ago, for screaming was something that wasn't rare in that common room.

Instead Snape was simply stared at, his blood shoot eyes absorbing the surroundings and the boy by his side. His head was turned slightly sideways and he could feel the weight on the gaze, or maybe it was just the tendons of his neck.

Regulus smiled. It was a smile that was supposed to give him confidence, a sort of "It'll be alright mate", but it wasn't a true smile, and it didn't reach his eyes. It was obvious to anyone who was knowledgeable about smiles.

Fortunately for him nobody in that room was really very knowledgeable about that subject.

Severus felt like cursing the younger boy out, what was he doing, smiling like a moron when he had just lost the most important person in his life?

Regulus caught the look of anger in his face before the weak shove. It didn't really hurt him, despite his frail and smallish imp body, he still had enough in him to balance out that shove, and he knew Snape could do much much worse. So he was glad for his containment.

He had to admit, smiling like a fool maybe wasn't the best option to relate to Severus.

"C'mon..." – C'mon what? What was he going to say? It wasn't so bad? Because clearly for Snape it was. Get a hold of yourself? That wouldn't work...

Severus gave him a heavy look of disdain and he shut his mouth, unsure of what to do then.

Regulus had to admit, Snape had an uncanny ability to show contempt. But he wasn't going to let him discourage him from helping him, for Snape really, really needed his help.

It was true, Regulus didn't know why exactly he was doing this...to get ahead in life? Snape wasn't that high on the rankings, his relationship with Evans, the girl he had offended so deeply, stopping him from climbing higher. To help a fellow Slytherin? His house was based on self gain and cunningness, not blind loyalty and help. No, that was the realm of particularly good finders.

Then...why was he doing it? If Snape didn't want his help then...He shouldn't give it to him, right? Maybe this had been a mistake.

He made a "See you later" motion with his hand, lifting it as sort of a goodbye, and moving about. That night he lay in bed, hearing the swoosh swoosh of water, and couldn't fall asleep. Severus Snape in his mind.

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He had to try again. He couldn't get the image off Snape's crying face out of his mind. It just wasn't right.

He was well aware the other boy loved the Evans girl, and love wasn't an easy thing to get over with. But he would try to help him on that journey, whatever it took.

As he looked in a mirror and combed his hair, since he did care minimally about his appearance, he repeated the saying.

"Whatever it takes."

"What are you blabbing about, you imbecile?" – Came a voice from out of nowhere. Regulus almost jumped 30 feet in the air, something he might be able to do, using magic. The bathroom ceilings were low tilled however and he would crash through them if he did just that, so instead., he simply muffled an incredibly girly scream.

"Oh...hey..." – Regulus smiled uneasily as he recognised the other boy as Severus. He wanted to surprise the other boy, not be surprised and nearly wet himself. – "I was just...hum..."

Severus smiled, a rare thing for him, even more so those days, and approached the sink. He didn't groom his hair or comb it or anything, he just cleaned his face.

By the looks of it he had been crying. But that didn't surprise Regulus anymore, the smaller boy had seen plenty of Severus crying.

Seeing him smile however did something to lift his spirits up. Even if it had been brought up by insulting him, it at least made it feel better.

That gave him an idea! What about...

"Come with me!" – Regulus picked Snape's hand, a hand that felt incredibly soft against his own, and pushed him. Snape almost fell to the ground onto his back as he was pushed. Steadying himself he insulted Regulus with anything that he had, and snarled as loudly as possible.

Some of the things Severus said about him were really starting to sting him and it was hurting him like all kinds of dark magic, but if it made him feel any better...Regulus ran around the castle, until he was out of breath, and Severus was even more of a mess than usual. Several house points had been removed by passing teachers that heard Snape's curses. But it had been worth it.

Snape just gave him a look of resignation, assuming his life was a bunch of dumplings no matter what.

But he had to admit to himself yelling out and releasing all his pent up anger at himself and frustration onto another person felt great. Snape wasn't a fool, he knew this was what Regulus had been trying to do last night. And though he hated to admit it...he had to thank the other kid.

"I'm not stupid you know..." – Snape told Regulus, who had this doofy smile on his face that really really annoyed him, but he was too spent to yell at him anymore.

"I know..." – There was that doofy smile again. It was amazing how great he felt, even if he was out of breath and dead tired and had caused his team to lose the house cup. – "You're pretty great."

Snape stopped mumbling to himself and looked at the other boy. Sure his friend complemented him on his strength and abilities, but none of them had ever called him...great.

It was such a genuine and nice comment, not one that was likely to come from the source, and he was intrigued by it. The little boy, small as he was, should be old enough to realise life isn't all sunshine and lollipops.

And yet...he had still cared about him, he wasn't like his brother, he was actually a decent Black...and they had pretty similar world views.

Severus was spent from being dragged around, and his arm hurt, which was normal considering it had almost been ripped out of his body. But he had to admit...the younger boy did give him a much needed thrill.

He reached in for a pat on the young chap's back. A gesture of affection not very akin to his usual attitudes. But the guy deserved it.

Regulus smiled as he was patted on the back, and realised just how late he was to his own lessons. He may have used a curse word or two, before quickly running in to class, no quill, ink, or books.

That night he dreamt of Snape, and, unknown to him, Snape dreamt of him, Regulus black.

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"So my Lord...why did you call me?"

"Ah yes...Severus..."

The mission was conceived, the order was given, Severus Snape, who had foolishly joined the most dark and evil group of Wizard's in Britain's history was to kill his target.

Regulus Black.


End file.
